The weather has gone from -34C yesterday morning to -5C this morning! Tropical!
Forever
Dressing after the morning shower, the concept of forever hit me between the eyes. The clothing in the closet may possibly last for the rest of my life, which is my personal forever.
When my time comes, tomorrow will not be available for things to get better, change, evolve.
This puts a new spin on buying clothing. Every piece I purchase, from now on, has to delight me, because I just might be wearing it for the rest of my life.
With this in mind, I am considering culling my wardrobe to a few loved pieces of clothing. If I am lucky I will wear them out and need new ones!
Parallax
Parallax is a concept generally used to describe visual perspectives. In my world parallax is much more than a description of physical objects. I intuitively extend the concept of parallax to all aspects of life, space, time, emotions, science, relationships, social systems… if I can think about it, parallax is relevant.
Home
I have been reading about decluttering. It is a lot more fun to read about it, and to experience the end results, than it is to actually do it. For now I am just thinking about it. Kitchen appliances are the focus of those lines of thought this morning. What kitchen appliances do we use regularly?
Countertop Storage for daily easy access:
1. microwave oven
2. coffee maker
3. toaster
4. food processor
5. mixer (bread etc.)
Cupboard storage for frequent access:
1. crock pots, several from 40 to 2 years old
There, that is a start on kitchen planning. The thing is, our kitchen’s are so small that these five appliances take up almost all of the counter space! As we move forward with our renovations on the little house in the city, this is information can form a basis for design.
Today Attila is working on our annual tax returns today. Some assistance is required from me, downloading bank statements, printing forms and such like.
My soup was completed yesterday, I had been working on it for days. Starting with soup bones is a lot of work. The amount of fat to be skimmed away was shocking, at least three cups. In the end I bottled five litres of soup, four of which will be frozen for future consumption. Attila has declared the soup a success. There are two more bags of soup bones in the freezer, waiting for my attentions.
Yesterday I suddenly developed a headache. I get severe headaches when my bangs touch my eyebrows. Weird. I have no explanation for it. Today Attila offered to trim my bangs, and he did fine job.
When we lived in the city, back in 2003 and earlier, I got the occasional haircut from Michael. He was great! I liked him and it was always a pleasant experience getting my hair cut. The only good haircut I have had, since we left the city to live in the country, has been from Harriet!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-5°C
Date: 1:00 PM EST Saturday 4 January 2014
Condition:Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.2 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: -4.7°C
Dewpoint: -10.6°C
Humidity: 64%
Wind:
S 28 km/h
Wind Chill: -12
Quote
“A wonderful place to vacation, ended up being not a great place to live.”
ctg492
Source: http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?4015-Radical-Downsizing-amp-Happiness/page3
Amen to this little bit of wisdom! Living in vacation land has much in common with portraying an actor, with the day job, appearing in the community of The Truman Show. The lights go on, you show up, you read your script, act your part, you go off set, the lights go out.
The other quote from ctg492 that tickled my funny bone, was describing living in vacation land as “rotting in paradise.” If you want community in vacation land you have to be able to survive in a community of one, or possibly two. It is a lot of work, sustaining such a small community! Attila and I have become adept at it.
The de-cluttering I planned on doing in the New Year has slowed down a bit. I need to think things through before disposing of them. I’m afraid this is what leads to me keeping things forever, though, so I need a new plan of attack.
My most successful decluttering occurred when Terra took over and talked me into chucking things! I did not miss one single item! Like you Bex, I am slowed down by thinking about it… please blog your new plan of attack when you come up with it, I will be an avid follower!
Thinking about *forever* is fascinating. Is my 14 year old car my Forever Car? It’s been my intention for many years. I am not a shopper so I suspect any clothes in my closet and dresser are my Forever Clothes. I don’t consider my shoes Forever Shoes, though. I think the reason I find so much pleasure in my home is that I have been striving toward the Forever concept. My choices as a young bride are vastly different from the choices I make today. I think we reach a comfortable place in life when we trust our choices to be Forever. I’ve lived here for 8 years and have never liked the flooring in my home. I’ve tolerated this because the flooring has been in good condition and I felt it was wasteful to change it because of my aesthetics. But the carpet is now older (14 years, perhaps) and I’ve been researching possibilities for my Forever Flooring. Maggie, one can find it daunting and perhaps scary that Forever choices eventually enter our lives… yet, there is also a comfort and freedom and satisfaction. Nice post. Thanks.
Reenie, I feel lucky to have lasted long enough to have the *forever* epiphany! I didn’t anticipate it, and did not know it was coming, LOL. Just when you think you know everything… the “arrogance of youth” is accurate in my case, even at my age! “Never too old” for some things!
I agree with you, that it does offer a degree of comfort and freedom. Planning for the unknown and uncertain long-term can be very wearing. Good to hear from you, and glad that you had a busy and happy holiday season!
I can’t recall you policy. Do you allow others to *share* your posts? I am really intrigued with the Forever Concept.
Reenie I would be tickled if you shared my post or a part of it, with the usual quotation marks and a link back to this entry.
The Forever Concept is a good one, I think; I use it when buying shoes or any clothing, now, instead of telling myself something is too expensive, I realize I may well be wearing it for 5 or 10 or 20 years, in which case, it’s not so expensive after all, and if I love it, buy it!
“I get severe headaches when my bangs touch my eyebrows. Weird. I have no explanation for it.”
This, however, completely hornswoggles me, too.
Kate, you are so right about quality clothing being worth it! My parka, purchased twenty years ago, is still going strong. It is a GoreTex parka, cost a mint even on deep discount, and I’ve worn it all winter, every winter for 20 years. Shoes, good shoes are so important! My Grandfather always told us, “if your feet are OK, you are all OK.” He gained that wisdom as a soldier overseas during the 1st World War.
Hornswoggled! LOL
I shared my JS post called Maggie Turner and Forevers on Facebook, and my friends have been intrigued with the concept.
Thanks Reenie! Facebook responses will not be visible here, so if there are any great comments on your Facebook posting feel free to share them here.